I know that Keegan would very much like to play in next month's Ryder Cup. I don't think a playing Captain is a good idea but I think Keegan will pick himself.

HeyAbbott said:

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I know that Keegan would very much like to play in next month's Ryder Cup. I don't think a playing Captain is a good idea but I think Keegan will pick himself.

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I agree. Plus, I don't think he wants to leave himself open for criticism if he played like crap and the team lost.

Jawn Dough said:

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HeyAbbott said:

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I know that Keegan would very much like to play in next month's Ryder Cup. I don't think a playing Captain is a good idea but I think Keegan will pick himself.

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I agree. Plus, I don't think he wants to leave himself open for criticism if he played like crap and the team lost.

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Whether he plays or not, losing a home Ryder Cup
will lead to a lot of second guessing. But losing while playing would definitely be worse. He will never hear the end of it.

Deluxe said:

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I agree that if the picks are handed out based on a "who deserves it most" basis, we're basically down to six of the following seven

JT
Cantlay
Griffin
Young
Morikawa
Burns
Keegan

At this point, I'd be shocked if JT and Cantlay weren't on the team, so call it four spots open for the remaining five.

But I also feel like that "who deserves it most" might be the wrong way of looking at it. If you assume that the six automatic qualifiers + JT/Cantlay, the remaining four should be the guys who plug holes in whichever format we feel weaker or compliment someone in the 8 who are effectively qualified.

Much is going to be made of the final picks for the team. Keegan picking himself or not. If Keegan does pick himself, who is he passing on. Etc. But the Ryder Cup is going to be won/lost based on how our top guys perform. It's very likely that the final picks are going to just play 1-2 team matches exclusively in one format.

First priority should be checking down the list and making sure our 8 are set. It starts at the top with making sure Scottie has the right partners in each format. Then decide if we're going to roll with Schauffele/Cantlay in foursomes or split them up. Then decide who's playing with JT in foursomes. Figure out how best to deploy Spaun/Bryson. Etc. From there, it should start to emerge what gaps we need to fill with the final spots.

With that in mind, the idea of passing on someone like Griffin for someone like Gotterup would be absurd if viewed through a "who deserves it more" lens. But if we're trying to fill a specific need. Say the team looks pretty set but the missing piece is a bruising four ball guy who can make alot of birdies as opposed to a steadier foursomes player, then Gotterup could make sense. To be clear, I'm not advocating for this specific scenario. It's just how I would be looking at it if i I was Keegan and had access to all the info.

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Full quote because this is such a great post.

Let's just say I WISH this was how the team was determined. I believe the US has leaned heavily into "deserves it" in the past as the key criteria. Deluxes' approach is just so much more conducive to a winning team. It's exactly how every other team sport builds a team.

His play hasn't been beating down the door to be on a team the last couple of months. He is still one of the best 11-15, but I think you can group him in with the next 2-3 options pretty close. I think he should stick with what he said when he was named captain, that he's only playing if he makes the top 6.

I still think this entire thing was born of a fake barstool media and netflix documentary driven narrative that he got screwed in 2023. He won the Traveler's, but outside of that didn't have a top 20 in a full field event after March (had a t-9 at a 30 man Tour Championship) . He wasn't screwed over.

If anything, giving him this captaincy at a home Ryder Cup is putting him in a worse position than leaving him off the last time. This was a trick better used in 2027 and sold as trying something new on the road.

aggiegolfer2012 said:

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His play hasn't been beating down the door to be on a team the last couple of months. He is still one of the best 11-15, but I think you can group him in with the next 2-3 options pretty close. I think he should stick with what he said when he was named captain, that he's only playing if he makes the top 6.

I still think this entire thing was born of a fake barstool media and netflix documentary driven narrative that he got screwed in 2023. He won the Traveler's, but outside of that didn't have a top 20 in a full field event after March (had a t-9 at a 30 man Tour Championship) . He wasn't screwed over.

If anything, giving him this captaincy at a home Ryder Cup is putting him in a worse position than leaving him off the last time. This was a trick better used in 2027 and sold as trying something new on the road.

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Agree with pretty much all of that. He hasn't distinguished himself from Burns, Cantlay, Young, Griffin, etc. to justify leaving one of them at home and stretching himself so thin.

And I guess we'll find out soon enough, but most of golf media thinks he's going to pick himself. If he does, for his sake, I hope he plays decent and we win.

I don't disagree with that. I'm out on Gotterup because I think we have the fourball horses already.
Going into it, I'm more worried about our foursomes setups and who is going to get the ball in the fairway. It won't be as big of a problem because it won't be set up with stupid high rough like in Europe, but I struggle to come up with many pairings I really like in foursomes besides Henley/Scheffler. Usually I'd say Xander/Cantlay, but they aren't playing as good as they have in the past (particularly Xander getting a little wild off the tee lately).

aggiegolfer2012 said:

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His play hasn't been beating down the door to be on a team the last couple of months. He is still one of the best 11-15, but I think you can group him in with the next 2-3 options pretty close. I think he should stick with what he said when he was named captain, that he's only playing if he makes the top 6.

I still think this entire thing was born of a fake barstool media and netflix documentary driven narrative that he got screwed in 2023. He won the Traveler's, but outside of that didn't have a top 20 in a full field event after March (had a t-9 at a 30 man Tour Championship) . He wasn't screwed over.

If anything, giving him this captaincy at a home Ryder Cup is putting him in a worse position than leaving him off the last time. This was a trick better used in 2027 and sold as trying something new on the road.

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I think the PGA also gambled on him not playing himself into contention when they chose him as captain.

There's also the fact the bench of possible captains isn't very deep. Looking back at the last 20 years or so of Americans who've won the PGA, there aren't many you'd pick as the man to step up and lead a team to victory. Rich Beem? Shaun Micheel? Jimmy Walker? Jason Dufner? David Toms? Hard pass on all. Phil and Koepka are out for obvious reasons. Tiger doesn't like the commitment. DLIII already had his shot. I know it would never happen but John Daly leading the circus at Bethpage would be epic.

aggiegolfer2012 said:

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I don't disagree with that. I'm out on Gotterup because I think we have the fourball horses already.
Going into it, I'm more worried about our foursomes setups and who is going to get the ball in the fairway. It won't be as big of a problem because it won't be set up with stupid high rough like in Europe, but I struggle to come up with many pairings I really like in foursomes besides Henley/Scheffler. Usually I'd say Xander/Cantlay, but they aren't playing as good as they have in the past (particularly Xander getting a little wild off the tee lately).

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To be clear, I'm not "in" on Gotterup. Only if his skillset helps fill a specific need with the last pick. My inclination is the same as yours... that foursomes players are more of a need than four ball. Granted, we've done just fine in foursomes at home through the years.

If I was to start drawing up foursomes:

1) Like I've previously posted, getting the right partner for Scottie in match 1 Friday morning against Rory/Fleetwood is crucial. I think JT and Spaun could be interesting options but for the sake of this exercise, let's assume it's Henley.

2) I'm ok giving Schauffele/Cantlay another chance to pair up at home. I have a theory that you haven't really played in a Ryder Cup until you've gotten your ass kicked on the road. They got toasted in Rome. I'd bet on them to bounce back.

3) If he's not paired with Scottie, I think JT will be taking the odds in one of our foursomes pairings. Cam is an interesting partner idea here because he could take some of the big boy tee shots on the evens (4, 10, 12, 16). But my lean here might be Griffin. Cam is probly better reserved for four ball.

4) IMO the "look" of our foursomes lineup hinges greatly on Morikawa's form. If he's playing well, he can easily anchor a pairing and take the odds. I like the idea of Morikawa and Spaun as a foursomes team, but contingent on how Morikawa is playing.

That would leave Bryson, Cam, Harris and either Sam or Keegan in four ball.

CapCityAg89 said:

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Full quote because this is such a great post.

Let's just say I WISH this was how the team was determined. I believe the US has leaned heavily into "deserves it" in the past as the key criteria. Deluxes' approach is just so much more conducive to a winning team. It's exactly how every other team sport builds a team.

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Thank you sir

NUCLR Golf reporting that Sam Burns has been offered a captain's pick.

Bryson might be a sleeper foursomes player
He's only played it twice, both on the road in 2018 with an old Phil and Tiger. Him and Cam Young are playing the same new Titleist ball too.

aggiegolfer2012 said:

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Bryson might be a sleeper foursomes player
He's only played it twice, both on the road in 2018 with an old Phil and Tiger. Him and Cam Young are playing the same new Titleist ball too.

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I'm not opposed to it. He was setup to fail in 2018 and he's a very different player today than he was then. Home setup will surely benefit him.

His iron play has concerned me a bit this year but if he's dialed in, sure, why not.

Marauder Blue 6 said:

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NUCLR Golf reporting that Sam Burns has been offered a captain's pick.

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If so, I like it. I'd like to keep as a continuous member of the team because I want to see him on the 2027 Adare Manor squad. He's one of the guys who bounced back strong after getting his ass kicked on Friday morning in Rome.

Teamed up w Morikawa to win a Saturday four ball match and then shot 5-under against Rory in singles.

If Sam is in and JT/Cantlay are basically locks, I guess this would imply that three of Keegan, Griffin, Morikawa and Cam will be on the team.

For what it's worth, they said on the No Laying Podcast they were hearing around East Lake that Keegan is definitely picking himself.

If the Burns and Keegan rumors are true, going to be real interesting to see who's left off. Down to Griffin or Morikawa for the final spot?

JCA1 said:

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If the Burns and Keegan rumors are true, going to be real interesting to see who's left off. Down to Griffin or Morikawa for the final spot?

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Or Griffin and Morikawa and no Cantlay.

Marauder Blue 6 said:

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JCA1 said:

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If the Burns and Keegan rumors are true, going to be real interesting to see who's left off. Down to Griffin or Morikawa for the final spot?

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Or Griffin and Morikawa and no Cantlay.

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Could be but my guess is he's in. I also think Cam is probably in due to recent play and course fit. I thought Burns would be the likely odd man out, but with the rumors he's in, it seems someone who was thought to be a shoo-in is likely out. The NLU guys heard some scuttlebutt that Griffin may be the guy left out. Which would be an ironic choice by Keegan after all the complaints about the boys' club leaving him out.

cb1919 said:

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For what it's worth, they said on the No Laying Podcast they were hearing around East Lake that Keegan is definitely picking himself.

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I heard that too. Also sounds like there was some chatter around Griffin being the odd man out.

If Keegan really did have a dinner with the 6 + JT/Morikawa last week, I'm sure they discussed who the remaining four would be. And if those 8 players had meaningful input, it's logical that Griffin would be the odd man out.

They all seem to want Keegan to play.
Scottie vouches for Burns.
Xander vouches for Cantlay.
Cam Young has been playing too well.

Griffin not in the club.

That would be the most ego-centric decision he's made as captain. And has potential for an all-time legacy-impacting backfire.

I get the reasoning for every choice. But think Griffin over Keegan would be my pick and allow him to be the leader. Something is going to come up where he would have been valuable at another match and he's stuck on the course.

So:

Scottie
Spaun
Schauffele
Henley
English
Bryson
JT
Morikawa
Burns

Keegan
Young
Cantlay
Griffin
McNealy
Harman
Novak

Deluxe said:

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cb1919 said:

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For what it's worth, they said on the No Laying Podcast they were hearing around East Lake that Keegan is definitely picking himself.

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I heard that too. Also sounds like there was some chatter around Griffin being the odd man out.

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Would have to be. They aren't leaving Cantlay and Morikawa home.

So if this is the US Team, what are your pairings? Scottie
Spaun
Schauffele
Henley
English
Bryson
JT
Morikawa
Burns

Keegan
Young
Cantlay

Little surprising the guy who actually won the PGAT team event will likely get left off the team. Would also be the second ryder cup in a row the guy who was 9th in points gets passed.

Maybe a stupid question but why not call your 10 contenders, say meet me at Bethpage with $10k, we're gonna go around a couple times with different pairings and different games and whoever comes out at the end with the most cash is on the team.

If Griffin gets left out, it'll be significantly worse than Keegan getting left out last time.
If Keegan is going to pick himself, I think the odd man out has to be Burns.

Since Griffin's last win
2nd, T10, T14, T13, CUT, CUT, T11, T9, T12, T10.

Since Keegan's win
t41, t30, cut, t44, t17, t7 (and the limited fields in the playoffs make some of that look better

If he leaves Griffin off for himself, there should be a riot. Looking at the last couple of months, you can actually rationalize Burns or Young over him, but not Keegan. Maybe Morikawa, but I just have him at a different level and I think you pick him and hope he puts it together over the next month because the high end is one of the 5 best players in the world.

In this context, Griffin should for sure be on the team…

Here is the final top 12 for the U.S. in SG over the last three, six and 12 months.

What stands out? pic.twitter.com/OrwpARel4r

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) August 25, 2025

HeyAbbott said:

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So if this is the US Team, what are your pairings? Scottie
Spaun
Schauffele
Henley
English
Bryson
JT
Morikawa
Burns

Keegan
Young
Cantlay

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If you assume those are the 12, that they're all playing well (ie no need to hide anyone), and without factoring in any advanced course/player data on who might pair well together, I'd do something like this on Friday and then take it from there:

Foursomes
Scottie/Henley
Xander/Cantlay
JT/Young
Morikawa/Spaun

So Bryson, Keegan, Sam and Harris would be out in the afternoon no matter what.

Four ball:
Bryson/Keegan - if he's gonna pick himself, fully lean into it and make it a spectacle
Henley/English - bulldog reunion
Scottie/Burns - four ball seems like a much better format for them than foursomes (thanks ZJ!)
Xander/Young - this could be a birdie fest if both are on

RK said:

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give me griffin after a post-creatine high. unstoppable.

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Funny but kinda true

RK said:

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give me griffin after a post-creatine high. unstoppable.

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Didn't he 4 putt from like 3 feet?

It's perfect that the guy who threw a hissy fit crying "boys club" about not getting the pick from 11th in the rankings in 2023 (while only having 1 top 20 in previous 4 months, but dadgumit he won the Travelers), is probably in a spot to leave off 3 of the guys ranked 8-12 in the standings right now.

I think the standings are pretty flawed, so it doesn't bother me. But watching how he handles doing that after how he and his supporters acted last time around will be fun to watch.

Deluxe said:

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In this context, Griffin should for sure be on the team…

Here is the final top 12 for the U.S. in SG over the last three, six and 12 months.

What stands out? pic.twitter.com/OrwpARel4r

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) August 25, 2025

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going by this, Keegan and Griffin on the team, Morikawa gets left off.

cb1919 said:

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RK said:

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give me griffin after a post-creatine high. unstoppable.

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Didn't he 4 putt from like 3 feet?

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that was DURING the creatine high. we have to be sure he OD's before play starts.